Ruckus Frame Blocks


Ruckus Frame Blocks
Last fall a co-worker purchased an Honda Ruckus, a 50cc scooter. It gets fantastic gas mileage, over 100 mpg, and works great as a short commute vehicle. It is also a very popular hobby to modify the Ruckus. Adam asked me to help him with a prototype to extend the frame to allow him a more comfortable ride. We worked on the basic design and I cast and machined a prototype which is still installed on Adam's Ruckus (see the picture at the bottom of this page). Adam made some enquiries and found a niche market so we decided to run a small batch of ten sets. Be the first on your block to add A-Bomb Frame Blocks to your Ruckus, see the online store here. We just received an order for more blocks so I decided to take a few pictures this time.
	On the first batch we had blanks cut by water jet. This time I ordered aluminum plate. The picture is one of two pieces ordered.
	I made a jig for my table saw to hold the bar securely in place. The piece of Plexiglas keeps the smoking hot chips from showering me while cutting the blanks. There is a small hole in the plastic to allow a shot of WD-40 to lubricate the blade. Speaking of blades, this is a special CMT blade made especially for cutting nonferrous materials.
	A closer shot without the Plexiglas. It shows the clamps in more detail and also the stop block.
	The blanks after cutting, still warm too. An interesting side note, the chips come off smoking hot, the parts get pretty warm, but the blade is not even warm. The cut quality was very good and it was easy to cut the blanks to near net size.
	Another shot of the bar and the blanks.
	Next up was to engrave a pattern in the outside face of each block. These were done on my CNC router. The design was cut using a 1/16" ball nose end mill in three passes. Total machining time was about 20 minutes per block.
	A face mill in my mill was used to reduce the thickness of the blanks to the required size. A light coat of WD-40 makes for a nice finish and a little bit of smoke.
	Each block has three holes drilled through it. Two are clearance holes and the third is tapped to receive one of the original frame bolts. The holes were drilled on the mill using a simple stop to ensure consistency between the blocks.
	The parts were then sanded to a satin finish and the edges are eased. The final step is to mill the logo into the block. This is done on the CNC using a 1/32" round nose ball end mill. Each logo took just over three minutes to engrave.
	The final product ready to deliver. They'll be boxed up with bolts and sent to the retailer.
	Here is a picture of Adam's Ruckus with the extension blocks installed. It adds about four inches of leg room and improves the ride and handling as well.
	A detail shot showing how the block is installed.